Consumer protection refers to the laws designed to aid retail consumers of goods and services that have been improperly manufactured, delivered, performed, handled, or described. Such laws provide the retail consumer with additional protections and remedies not generally provided to merchants and others who engage in business transactions, on the premise that the consumers do not enjoy a sufficient bargaining position with respect to the businessmen with whom they deal and therefore should not be strictly limited by the legal rules that govern recovery for damages among businessmen. The overarching goal is to protect individuals and the interest of the public in general from unfair and misleading activity in business and commerce (such as false advertising and deceptive trade practices) and scams perpetrated by criminals (such as identity theft and pyramid schemes) that harm a substantial number of consumers.
Fresno is a city in California, USA, the county seat of Fresno County. As of 2010, the population was estimated at 505,479 and by 2020 it will have 590,797 residents. making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 36th largest in the nation. Fresno is located in the center of the wide San Joaquin Valley of Central California, approximately 200 miles (322 km) north of Los Angeles and 170 miles (274 km) south of the state capital, Sacramento. The city is part of the Fresno-Clovis metropolitan area, which, with a population of 1,002,046, is the second largest metropolitan area in the Central Valley after Sacramento. The name Fresno is the Spanish language word for the ash tree and an ash leaf is featured on its flag.